REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. XXI 



trade could be collected, and as a place of storage for a large amount 

 of Fish Commission property. The station was in charge of Dr. T. H. 

 Bean during the summer of 1879, and of Mr. A. Howard Clark since 

 September, 1879, and to these gentlemen the Commission is indebted 

 for a large amount of valuable information. They have also utilized 

 the opportunity of constant association with the fishing vessels by in- 

 ducing their captains to preserve and present any curious specimens of 

 marine animals taken on the fishing banks. It is well known that not 

 only are strange fishes frequently taken on the trawls, but starfishes, cor- 

 als, &c, attach themselves to, or become entangled in, the lines and are 

 hauled on board. Inquiries on board of vessels, as they came in from 

 a trip, have resulted in the obtaining of most important additions to the 

 North American fauna, hundreds of species having thus been procured 

 that would otherwise have been entirely unobtainable. 



A special catalogue of the donations derived from this source will be 

 found in the present report. 



The actual supervision of the wharf and building has been exercised 

 by Capt. S. J. Martin, of Gloucester, who has remained on duty day 

 and night, and who has also rendered essential service in collecting 

 specimens and information for the Commission. 



For the better appreciation of the relationships of the different fish- 

 ing grounds off the eastern coast of North America, Professor Hilgard 

 kindly consented to superintend the preparation by Mr. Lindenkohl of 

 a relief map of the region between Sandy Hook, N. Y., and the eastern 

 edge of the Grand Bank of Newfoundland, and from the coast of Maine 

 and of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to south of Nantucket Shoals. Con- 

 tour lines were traced for the different depths, and the outlines cut out 

 in cards of different colors, superimposed the one upon the other. By 

 using cards of different thicknesses the proportional gradations in depth 

 at each point were indicated in twenty-five-fathom stages up to a hun- 

 dred and fifty, and by those of fifty fathoms for greater depths. This 

 map has proved to be an object of extreme interest as illustrating much 

 more clearly than has heretofore been possible the localities where the 

 different kinds of fish were obtained, and showing why certain places 

 were especially favorable fishing grounds in certain seasons. 



Beferencehas been made in previous reports to an arrangement with 

 Mr. Liunell, of Boston, for obtaining the statistics of the shore fisheries 

 of Massachusetts, having their center of operations in Boston. The dock 

 of which he is the wharfinger is a place of resort for nearly all the cod, 

 haddock, herring, and other fishermen who sell their cargoes in that 

 city ; and as the charge for wharfage is in proportion to the character 

 and number of fish, it becomes an easy matter to estimate with great 

 precision. The fish not included under this arrangement are but a small 

 percentage, and their numbers can be easily averaged. 



The arrangement with Mr. Linnell was continued during the year, 

 and his figures have been used in compounding the statistics for the 

 census report of 1880. 



